UC Davis and Pepper Spray

On Friday, UC Davis made national headlines–not for something positive, unfortunately–when police officers pepper sprayed NON-VIOLENT, peaceful protestors. Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi issued an inept statement; however, a student took the time to write a letter describing what he/she witnessed, while Glenn Greenwald issued his own analysis.

I watched the video which you can find can find on YouTube, since it’s now viral, simply by typing “UC Davis pepper spray.” You will notice that none of the protestors posed any threat to the police in any way. In fact, the protestors’ actions in no way warranted the excessive use of pepper spray. By the way, did I mention it was a NON-VIOLENT protest?

Perhaps one of the most apt responses, as well as one of the most courageous, is Nathan Brown’s letter to Ms. Katehi demanding her resignation immediately for her mishandling of the situation. Nathan Brown is an untenured professor at UC Davis who may have put his job in jeopardy with the school for being brave enough to put his principles ahead of his career. He sat down this morning to talk to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!